Deborah D. Avant is professor of political science and director of the Institute for Global and International Studies. Her research (funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Olin Foundation, and the Smith Richardson Foundation, among others) has focused on civil-military relations, military change, and the politics of controlling violence.

Stephen Biddle is senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. From June 2001–July 2006, he was professor of national security studies at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute (SSI). Before joining SSI in June 2001, he was a member of the political science faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Sean E. Duggan is research assistant at the Center for American Progress. Prior to joining the Center, he graduated from the Henry M. Jackson School at the University of Washington with a degree in foreign policy, diplomacy, peace and security studies. His research areas include military affairs, terrorism, foreign policy, and Middle East affairs.

Charles Hauss teaches political science half time at George Mason University and is a senior associate at Search for Common Ground. He is the author of 10 books, including two on conflict resolution and a forthcoming volume on rethinking national security.

Lawrence J. Korb is a former assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and a senior advisor to the Center for Defense Information.

David L. Leal is associate professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin. His interests include Latino politics, public policy, and the military and society. He has published over 30 journal articles and book chapters on these and other topics and is co-editor of the forthcoming Latino Politics: Identity, Mobilization, and Representation (University of Virginia Press).

Judith Hicks Stiehm is professor of political science at Florida International University where she served as provost and academic vice provost. Her most recent books are The U.S. Army War College: Military Education in a Democracy and Champions for Peace: Women Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Linton Wells is currently chair of force transformation and Distinguished Research Professor at the National Defense University. He moved to NDU in June 2007 after 16 years in the Office of the Secretary of Defense when, among other things, he helped build bridges with the NGO community.

Isaiah (“Ike”) Wilson III is a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army. His is an army aviator, strategist, and combat veteran. LTC Wilson currently serves as associate professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he is director of American politics, public policy, and strategy. LTC Wilson holds Master's degrees from Cornell University, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS) at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, and a Ph.D. in government from Cornell University.